Trump warms up to shaking hands on 2016 campaign trail

NEW YORK — Donald Trump says he’s gotten used to shaking hands. But it’s been a bit of an adjustment.

The GOP presidential front-runner has called shaking hands “barbaric.” In his 1997 book “The Art of the Comeback,” Trump wrote that pressing the flesh “is one of the curses of American society.”

{mosads}Rival Jeb Bush has mocked Trump on the issue, calling him a “germaphobe.”

In an interview Tuesday at his office in Trump Tower in Manhattan, Trump added, “I happen to be a clean-hands freak. I feel much better after I thoroughly wash my hands, which I do as much as possible.”

Of course, that poses a problem on the campaign trail, but he said that shaking thousands of hands “hasn’t been tough.”

“I’m a politician,” Trump said, noting that many of his supporters come up to him after speeches seeking his autograph — and to shake hands.

“Can you imagine if I said I won’t shake anybody’s hand?”